As he prepares to tour the UK, the music icon exclusively speaks to The Mirror about never wanting to retire, being the ‘nicest man in showbiz’ and winning over his new granddaughter
Out of control ruffians are not the kind of fans most of us would expect to see at Lionel Richie concerts, but that’s how the Oscar winning star describes his UK audience. Also boasting a Golden Globe and several Grammy Awards, not to mention a mere 125 million albums sold worldwide, Lionel says that, at 75, it is these colourful characters who continue to inspire him.
Due to celebrate his 76th birthday on tour on June 20, the still spritely star loves his fans, who he thanks for his amazing career. He tells The Mirror: “It’s the only salvation you can have in life, when you can actually go out and meet the people who participated in your career. How about that? You get to see the people who bought the records and support you.
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“I started out with my generation and now I’ve got the kids, the grandkids, the whole thing. The family shows up on the front row. Really, it’s a celebration. When you start off, you don’t know you have this long in the business and here we are 50-odd years later. That’s amazing.”
Known for hits with the Commodores including Three Times a Lady, solo tracks such as Hello, Dancing on the Ceiling and All Night Long and for a famous duet with Diana Ross – Endless Love, Lionel has really earned the moniker ‘legend’. An acclaimed songwriter, he is also frequently described as the “nicest man in showbiz”.
“I’m a vicious man,” he laughs, sounding like nothing of the sort. “You know what it is? It’s very hard to say something horrible to somebody when they just started off a conversation by saying ‘I love you’. That’s a tough one to come back on with anything other than ‘Thank you’.
“Very few people in life get a chance to share a love with the world. I must tell you how blessed I feel that when I walk into a room, the room starts smiling. I don’t think I need to get angry over that one.”
The star’s reason for not retiring was born out of his conversation with another legendary performer, the US comedian George Burns, who lived to be 100. “I kept saying to George ‘I’m trying to retire George, but I can’t retire until you retire’,” says Lionel.
“And he told me ‘I’m going to tell you the secret to the business – stay booked. As long as it’s working, as long as you feel great, as long as it becomes an excitement that you love going out and seeing the people, book some more shows’.”
And, of his latest tour, he says: “It’s really been a magical ride and I can’t think of anything else that I would be wanting to do for the summer. The joke with all of my life is ‘When are we going on vacation?’ and I say ‘I call that a tour’. So, here we go again – I’m going to have my birthday on tour again.”
With a memoir out in the autumn, a show in Las Vegas and a long-running role as a judge on American Idol, Lionel clearly has no intention of slowing down any time soon. Next up? “I’m certainly not going to be a politician,” he laughs, insisting he never tires of performing his best known hits.
Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, and now residing in California, he adds: “I’m going to tell you the truth and I know this may sound very, very strange – I don’t really perform the songs. I come to the show to watch the audience perform the songs. I don’t really have to do the heavy lifting. It’s a giant night of karaoke.”
Lionel compares his tens of thousands-strong audiences to a Rocky Horror Show performance, in a nod to the Richard O’Brien musical that inspires everyone to dress up in costume. Smiling, he says: “If I could tell you what I see from my best seat in the house, I’ve got people dressed up like Lionel Richie in the ’80s, Lionel Richie in the ’90s, I’ve got wigs and moustaches – you have no idea what I’m looking at. They put on the greatest show year after year.”
And, back to the UK audiences, as he prepares to head to arenas across the country, with the first date in Belfast on May 31, he adds: “They’re out of control. These are out of control ruffians. I think they’re enjoying their performance more than mine from what I can see.
“Every year they keep bringing back the family. It’s hen’s night, you don’t know who or what is going to show up in front of you, but it’s a party and it’s a lot of fun.” With a multi-generational fanbase boosted by his US talent show role, he adds: “Now that I’m on American Idol, I’ve got 9 to 12 year old fans and I’m not Mr Richie, I’m Lionel. ‘Oh my god Mom, Dad, there’s Lionel’.”
The star has his own “tribe” back home too, with children Nicole, Miles and Sofia Richie and three grandkids – Nicole’s teenagers Harlow and Sparrow – and Sofia’s baby Eloise, who will turn one on May 20. “Somewhere along the line God gives you this tribe of people, my kids Sofie, Nicole, Miles,” he says. “You think you’re doing some really powerful stuff and they come to you one day and say ‘Dad, make sure you don’t do anything to embarrass us’.
“Now Sofie has her kid and now I’ve got this newbie Eloise – she doesn’t know who the heck I am. I’ve got to start all over again trying to show Eloise who Pop Pop is. I love the tribe, I love the family growing and thank god I have a place to get away from the tribe some days. Pop Pop has a place to go, it’s called on tour, I hang out on the road for a minute and I get to live the life I’ve always had.”
Married twice before, first to college sweetheart Brenda Harvey and later to actress Diane Alexander, Lionel has been in a third long-running relationship with model and entrepreneur Lisa Parigi, who is in her mid-30s, since 2014. “That’s certainly on the… not to give you the highlight but I won’t rule that out,” he says intriguingly of marrying for a third time. “As I say to all my friends: ‘Stay tuned’.”
And if a third nuptials is on the cards, Lionel has many famous friends who might get an invite, including fellow musician Stevie Wonder. There could even be an invitation pinging its way to Buckingham Palace, for King Charles III is another pal.
“We’ve known each other for a very long time,” says Lionel, who has been involved with the monarch’s passion project The King’s Trust – formerly The Prince’s Trust – since the mid 1980s. “You never really think, with all of his friends and all of his history, you always think he knows a lot of people, but I must tell you I was deeply honoured when I got the Coronation invitation. Wow!
“Then it became quite evident that he wants to spend time together. We were invited to private moments and I must tell you I enjoyed every minute of it. He has a great sense of humour.
“Now that he’s King he’s got a lot of responsibility on his shoulder, but in his private time he has a great sense of humour. We get along quite well and I am proud to call him my friend.”
Fame comes at a price for any instantly recognisable celebrity, but it seems to be one the easygoing star is happy to accept. “If I want to go someplace and sit down by the pool and relax, that’s not gonna happen,” he says.
“I’ve now become a citizen of the world, so wherever I am, I am a part of whatever family’s close to me. I’ve been recognisable for so long, I’ve gotten used to people just starting talking to me. I’m hanging out at a family reunion, people know me and they start telling me how the songs involve their family.”
And when he does want to switch off, Lionel turns to nature. “I like gardening,” says the star, who recently created a public space, Hello Park, close to his childhood home in Alabama. “I like hedges, I like stuff.
“So I’m always planting new stuff on the grounds. My real chillout is out in the woods, creating the next garden. I just like to build things that grow. It’s fascinating to me.”
Source: Mirror
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